Narrative:An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft on a domestic flight from Addis Ababa to Bahar Dar was hijacked to Sudan by five men. The plane landed in El Obeid to refuel and to repair mechanical problems. Sudanese officials refused to refuel the aircraft, however, and the hijackers allowed five passengers to deplane. The hijackers had initially demanded to fly to Libya, but in Sudan they changed their intended destination to Sweden. After several hours of negotiations and with temperatures rising inside the aircraft from the hot weather, the hijackers peacefully surrendered to the authorities. There were no injuries from the incident. The hijackers had no political motives, and their only apparent objective was to leave the country.

This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path. Distance from Addis Ababa-Bole Airport to Bahar Dar Airport as the crow flies is 332 km (208 miles).

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Networkĺs opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.